Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) EVP Sells $760,080.96 in Stock

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $63.24. The company had a trading volume of 17,269,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,692,420. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $251.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.30.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 69.87%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $480,555,000 after buying an additional 52,711 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 171,490 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,127,000 after acquiring an additional 10,895 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,586,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $452,526,000 after acquiring an additional 347,061 shares during the period. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 169,711 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $9,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 0.9% in the third quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 68,758 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,659,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.